Mali rebels say drop separatist goal

BAMAKO, July 15 (Reuters) - Tuareg-led Mali rebels who
seized the north of the West African country in April declared
on Sunday they had dropped claims for a separate state after the
rebellion was hijacked by al Qaeda-linked Islamists now holding
sway in the north.

"We are seeking cultural, political and economic
independence but not secession," Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, a senior
member of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad
(MNLA), told Reuters by telephone.

Azawad is the name which the MNLA gives to the northern
territory of Mali in which it declared an independence that has
been ignored by a world more concerned with the threat of Mali
become a launchpad for jihadi activities.

A second MNLA official, Hama Ag Mahmoud, told Reuters in the
Mauritanian capital Nouakchott: "Independence has been our line
since the start of the conflict but we are taking on board the
view of the international community to resolve this crisis."

Islamist groups including the local Ansar Dine have imposed
strict sharia, Islamic law, across the north and destroyed
UNESCO-listed shrines to local saints in the ancient town of
Timbuktu, arguing that such worship is un-Islamic.

Contacted by telephone in Timbuktu, Ansar Dine spokesman
Sanda Ould Boumana said he was not aware of any change in the
MNLA position but added: "What I can tell you is that it is us
who control the three regions of the north."
(Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo in Bamako; Mark John in Dakar;
Writing by Mark John; Editing by Alison Williams)